WRITER

Alfred Thayer Mahan

1840 - 1914

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Alfred Thayer Mahan (; September 27, 1840 – December 1, 1914) was a United States Navy officer and historian whom John Keegan called "the most important American strategist of the nineteenth century." His 1890 book The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1783 won immediate recognition, especially in Europe, and with the publication of its 1892 successor, The Influence of Sea Power upon the French Revolution and Empire, 1793–1812, he affirmed his status as a globally-known and regarded military strategist, historian, and theorist. Mahan's works encouraged the development of large capital ships—eventually leading to dreadnought battleships—as he was an advocate of the 'decisive battle' and of naval blockades. Critics, however, charged him with failing to adequately explain the rise of largely land-based empires, such as the German or Ottoman Empires, though Mahan did accurately predict both empires' defeats in World War I. Mahan directly influenced the dominant interwar period and World War II-era Japanese naval doctrine of the "decisive battle doctrine" (艦隊決戦, Kantai Kessen), and he became a "household name" in Germany. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Alfred Thayer Mahan is the 1,277th most popular writer (down from 1,078th in 2019), the 1,834th most popular biography from United States (down from 1,266th in 2019) and the 145th most popular American Writer.

Alfred Thayer Mahan is most famous for his book "The Influence of Sea Power Upon History." In this book, he argues that a nation's naval power is the key to global dominance.

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Among WRITERS

Among writers, Alfred Thayer Mahan ranks 1,277 out of 7,302. Before him are Gottfried Benn, Anton Praetorius, Saint Gall, Nathalie Sarraute, Bāṇabhaṭṭa, and Ephraim Kishon. After him are Ivan Gundulić, Theodor Storm, Hugo Gernsback, Nadezhda Mandelstam, Ellen Key, and Elizabeth Gaskell.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1840, Alfred Thayer Mahan ranks 23. Before him are August Bebel, Crazy Horse, Richard von Krafft-Ebing, Johann II, Prince of Liechtenstein, George Smith, and Hans Makart. After him are Giovanni Verga, Johan Svendsen, Per Teodor Cleve, Princess Margaretha of Saxony, Edward Whymper, and Manuel de Arriaga. Among people deceased in 1914, Alfred Thayer Mahan ranks 28. Before him are Ambrose Bierce, Princess Adelgunde of Bavaria, Alain-Fournier, Charles Péguy, John Tenniel, and Joseph Chamberlain. After him are Anatoly Lyadov, Adolphus Frederick V, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Georges Picquart, Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, Joseph Swan, and Albert Günther.

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Alfred Thayer Mahan ranks 1,834 out of 20,380. Before him are Dorothy Vaughan (1910), Minoru Yamasaki (1912), Teri Hatcher (1964), Larry Flynt (1942), Henry Rollins (1961), and Nick Adams (1931). After him are Mary Todd Lincoln (1818), David Scott (1932), David Zucker (1947), Richard Lynch (1940), Bubba Smith (1945), and Elisabeth Shue (1963).

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Among WRITERS In United States

Among writers born in United States, Alfred Thayer Mahan ranks 145. Before him are Rex Stout (1886), Irwin Shaw (1913), Noah Gordon (1926), Robert Sheckley (1928), Richard Henry Dana Jr. (1815), and Valerie Solanas (1936). After him are Hubert Selby Jr. (1928), Carson McCullers (1917), James Ellroy (1948), Joyce Carol Oates (1938), Anthony Bourdain (1956), and Natalie Clifford Barney (1876).

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